No-Kill Shelter Workers Get Jail Time for Animal Abuse

Written by PETA | December 31, 2007

Did we need more evidence to know that no-kill shelters are not the solution? According to news reports two members of a no-kill animal rescue group will serve time behind bars for keeping nearly 300 dogs and cats in squalid conditions. Former Noah’s Ark Animal Rescue, CA owner Alexiea Tiraki-Kyrklund was sentenced to 16 months in prison, and Gloria Yvette Ramos, head volunteer at the shelter, was sentenced to a year in jail and five years probation for felony animal cruelty.According to prosecutors, animal control officers found 152 dogs and 147 cats inside the building, and a state-licensed veterinarian determined that the conditions were detrimental to the animals’ health and safety.The defense attorney argued that most of the animals had been in poor health when they were rescued from other facilities and that his clients “didn’t do anything wrong.” It’s that last quote about not doing anything wrong that bothers me. The police only found out about this because the stench was so overwhelming. If humans were overpowered by a smell beyond closed doors, imagine what the animals, with their sensitive noses, were subjected to inside! Good intentions can cause as much harm to animals as the worst abusers sometimes. – Joel

Commenting is closed.

In response to elphaba I agree completely that far too many wild birds and mammals have been killed and endangered by outdoor cats. Of course there are too many ferals to save them all and that is the biggest hinderance to solving the feral cat problem. However the issue I have with killing them is that as long as people don’t neuter their pets and allow cats outdoors it’s just a revolving door. Kill thousands of feral cats thousands more are right behind from irresponsible pet owners. One of our professors was trying to save a critically endangered bird in Hawaii and one of the many problems was feral cats killing these birds. Far far more were being killed by development and habitat loss but they were unable to stop that. This incredibly kind intelligent woman was forced to trap and kill hundreds of feral cats. However Hawaii still allows people to bring cats to the island and let them outdoors. So more cats breed become feral and move in. It’s a revolving door. Until we resolve to curb this problem we are just forcing perfecly nice people to kill these animals with no end in sight and no progress is made in the end. Having killed over 800 healthy animals myself I can tell you it’s unfair to put people through this unless something is to be done about it. I agree that sometimes killing ferals is the only option but if they can be adopted I’ve done this it’s not that hard they should be. Also window hits kill far more birds than cats and owned cats allowed outdoors kill at least as many birds as feral cats do. Obviously we have lots of work to do!! LOL

I’ve had feral cats in my neighborhood in the past. As lovely as it sounds to alter and release them it wouldn’t have been very responsible. What about all the little squirrels and birdies they kill? Domesticated animals remember feral cats may have reverted but they are not technically wild are not natural predators of wild animals. Sadly the one cat I was not able to catch and turn over to my local shelter to be euthanized died pretty miserably.

We all know bad things happen to good people. I don’t think the owner of Noah’s Ark or the volunteer deserved jail time. They had good intentions but they were overwhelmed. They did regularly set up adoptions on weekends at the Petco near my house and were dedicated to finding homes for many dogs and cats they rescued. The people working at these adoptions were all volunteers who loved animals. I usually agree with PETA but in this case justice was not served. In response to Chelsea I agree all of the animal rescue organizations you listed are great charities to support which I do. But you can’t take the credit away from PETA. They were one of the major pioneers for advocating animal rights which focused on animal testing. Their greatest contribution was educating millions to live a compassionate lifestyle and making us aware of what was really going on behind closed doors. That in itself deserves kudos!

I’m so encouraged that people here are judging the situation in depth rather than just with a knee jerk reaction. I think PETA is conveniently forgetting about the many drawbacks of “kill” shelters. People treating the place like a McDonald’s drivethrough running in refusing to sign the surrender form required by law in the shelter I worked in refusing to leave a donation because they were in too much of a hurry. People would say to me “My neighbor told me this would be easy that I could just leave my cat here I’m already late for work!” When I asked people if they tried to find a friend or family member who would adopt the cat they said no they were too busy. At least with nokill shelters people have to hang on to the animal for a while longer and maybe find their own placement for it. I know many people will be critical of that idea but think of it this way wouldn’t the cat or dog prefer a second chance rather than be killed? I would never say euthanasia is the best option because I’ve never been dead before. Have you? How could anyone know it was a better option? And also there have been many reports where I live of people forcing cats outside in this weather. It has been below zero here for several days. On our porch we have a small dog igloo doghouse put out for stray cats. I use my own fleece coats inside because they don’t retain moisture and are very warm. If anyone wants to alley cat allies I think that’s the website I’ll have to double check has instructions on how to make a feral cat “house”. All you have to do is take a cardboard box and seal it all up except a small square opening. Put a fleece blanket or coat inside to keep the cat warm. Most stray feral and even domestic cats don’t die of starvation they die of hypothermia. You might be saving a life by putting one of these things on your porch or outdoors. Prop it up on bricks if it’s near moisture or snow. Make sure it stays dry and do NOT feed the strays unless you’re plannning to bring them inside and find them an indoor home for good. Of course this is just my message I’m not trying to force the idea on anyone. But while we’re talking about ways to save homeless animals I think that private individuals taking care of and finding homes for strays at this point may be a better option than depending on shelters. Thanks.

I don’t know every fact surrounding Noahs’ Ark but my husband and I did adopt our first dog from noah’s ark two years ago.Noah’s Ark worked through Petco adoption center We did speak with herAlexia for quite a while and know that every Saturday and Sunday she would bring 30 or so dogs and cats to Petco and spend the day there trying to adopt them out. She and all the volunteers there seemed to care very deeply for those animals. What she seemed to be doing from speaking with her is she would go to county shelters and “rescue” these dogs that were apparently close to being euthanised. This was the case with our dog who was brought into L.A. county shelter as a stray with a shattered leg. Alexia said he was there for a week in this condition and Noah’s Ark rescued and arranged for a $2000 surgery on his leg. I really think that in this case this person just couldn’t say no and thought she could save all these animals and got way in over her head… I don’t know maybe she thought they might at least have a chance if she could adopt them out.. I know she definitely tried. They really wanted us to send pictures of our dog when he got settled but I never got around to it so one Sunday six months later we decided to take him down to this Petco so the noah’s ark volunteers could see his progress. They were all there including Alexia and everyone recognized our pomeranian and were very pleased at his recovery and new life. Two days later we heard of the arrest and were completely stunned.

Thanks Ann for your great comments. I agree with everything you have said. As long as we say that killing in shelters is better than trying to find a no kill solution this is in fact encouraging abuse to animals because as long as people believe cats and dogs and other animals can be easily disposed of they will never learn respect for them. Imagine if orphaned children were euthanized do you think that would help child abuse? Yes I guess there would be no more abused orphaned children but how would people in general value children from then on?

Just a thought! If euthanized animals are ending up in our pet food then wouldn’t greedy pet food companies want euthanazia to continue. I also support Peta on most of their campaigns but am at a loss to understand why they don’t mention that not all no kill shelters are bad and not all kill shelters are good. I agree that putting dogs in crates where they can only sit down stand up and turn around in is a form of abuse. I have seen people leave their dogs in them for 24 hours at a time. However what about Best Friend’s Sanctuary which is no kill and the animals can run around freely. Why isn’t Peta worried about affecting their reputation? I walked dogs at a local shelter and had to stop when dogs were being deemed aggressive without really investigating properly if they were just scared those dogs were left in cages for up to ten days before being euthanized. During those days they weren’t loved in any way and the workers weren’t all that nice to them. Their attitude was that they’ll be killed anyway so why bother. Believe me those dogs suffered! A good nokill shelter believes that all dogs deserve a chance not just the highly adoptable and cute ones. If you go to the No Kill Advocacy website they are also bringing a kill shelter to justice for neglect and abuse. They also have proved that the no kill approach can be successful and kind but Peta and other organizations never even tried to find out how the true no kill approach works.

I think there has to be groups that are involved in all aspects of this fight for it to be one be effective. I look at Peta as the founding father for all animal groups without them I am not quite sure that any of these others would even be able to make any difference in society at all. No one group is more or less important than any other we all fight the same war to stop animal abuse. Peta is known and hated by its enemies this in itself shows the impact they have had in the pocket book of certain industries. Instead of bashing each group for their flaws we all need to work together to make sure all bases are covered with every animal group. This is a movement that needs all groups on the ground making a difference instead of fighting within each group at who is doing what the right or wrong way….when it comes to making a difference in animal suffering there is no right or wrong way! Peta has made major accomplishments within this movement and I think sometimes people block that out just because they may or may not agree with their shocking ad campaigns…If you walk up to a person with a picture of a happy cow in a field and say These animals go through hell at slaughter please dont eat them You are not going to get very far….. our society is a have to see to believe society and until you place the reality in their face they will not get it and in some cases NEVER will … It is just like with fur we can go tell a million people why they should not wear fur but until they actually see the animal being stripped of its coat while alive they will not get it. Peta does a great job at being a thorn in big companies sides with that they are able to achieve progress…no one really wants to have a dead racoon thrown at them in the middle of their lunch therefore they may be willing to make changes in the things they do to avoid such. You have to have the organization that is out there to push things in peoples face that just normal conversations will not move them at all. You also need the small groups to do ground work for people who are not comfortable with Peta and find them too extreme. All these different aspects of the animal rights movement are very much needed……Every group is important to the out come of this fight from the ones that are hands on…. to the ones that are more concerned with awareness…. and the ones trying to move mountains by changing laws. As for no kill shelters I have seen too many bad experiences with these to fully support them. There is no such thing as a perfect shelter out there for an animal no matter how well it is run animals deserve homes. The harsh reality that we all know is there are just too many animals and not enough people to take them all in or care enough to seek solutions …until this problem is fixed we will always have the debate of which shelter is more humane when in reality none of them are really humane one offers the end result of death and the other offers a lifetime behind bars ..It breaks my heart for most of these dogs or cats born into the world today will never know what it is to sleep on a couch or snuggle with a human at night…they will not be allowed to get in into mischief such as chewing up a shoe or getting in the trash with the true love from a human that forgives this behavior immediately. Instead the grim reality is they may be forced into a shelter from birth never knowing what it means to really have life….or they will be checked right in to the research center for extreme torture…or they will find a life in a no kill shelter were they do not experience one on one love with humans instead experience basic care and a pat on the head from many different people working really hard to make a difference but the problem is just too overwhelming for changes to come fast enough for these animals to see a difference. Then you have the issue of the ones that do find a home but it is one of life on a chain. Then there are the cases where they have a place to call home but the human responsible for their well being will starve them or beat them daily.. Some dogs get very lucky with their placements in life…unfortunately the majority I see get the wrong end of the deal! Somehow we need to find a cure for insensitivity in humans for that is the only way we will ever ensure that no animal ever suffers again at the hand of a human. We live in a cruel world…the battle against animal suffering will never be won if we do not all together and stop wondering which group is doing more than another or which group is doing things wrong according to how we think it should be done…..Lets work together to make solutions instead of accusations.

Many of my animal rights beliefs were shaped through information I received from PETA. I had thought about becoming a vegetarian and information from PETA motivated me to do so and to stop wearing leather and wool and to be concerned about what charities are doing with my donations in the name of science the list goes on. Therefore I was very disappointed to learn that PETA is championing killing dogs and cats and condemning all nokill shelters the very people I would have expected them to be supporting. Now that I know this position I can no longer make financial contributions because I don’t want my money to be used to kill adoptable animals. Killing healthy animals and ones that can be treated reinforces the idea that many people have that animals are disposable. This is suggesting that if someone no longer has time for a dog bring them to a shelter and they’ll have them killed free of charge no problem. This is taking the easy way out for the guardian and the shelter. I’m sure everyone here agrees that anyone who abuses animals whether at a nokill rescue or shelter or a kill shelter or anyone from the general public deserves to be punished. However I am astonished that irresponsible generalizations would be made that nokill shelters are all guilty of animal abuse. What is happening with the animal rights movement? PETA and other animal rights groups are all about changing the status quo in how animals are treated. Why aren’t we focusing more on decreasing the number of animals killed at shelters so we will get to the point where euthanasia is reserved for animals who are suffering from illness and cannot be helped with vet care? Many animal rights issues are not embraced by the public and while people may not be up in arms about the treatment of lab rats people love their dogs and cats like members of the family and this is one issue the public could be rallied to support with both their time and money. If someone will leave millions to their dog we should be working to have them donate money to set up spayneuter clinics all across the country and improve the antiquated shelters and shelter practices across the country. This blog criticizes nokill shelters which generally are private and aside from the hoarding situations cited most are in good condition but no one can deny that many kill shelters can also use improvements. I don’t understand why this issue isn’t receiving more attention. People’s resolutions for 2008 should be to foster a dog or cat from a local shelter help publicize homeless animals at shelters by posting flyers in your workplace etc and get feral cats spayed and neutered. I also didn’t know until just recently that PETA doesn’t support TNR. Feral cats are wild so why should they be killed? We don’t round up wild rabbits and kill them even though some rabbits are domesticated and live in homes. These absurd antinokill generalizations are counterproductive. I’m sure everyone here would love for all animals to find loving homes and I wish that we could make that a goal. That’s one campaign that I believe would be very successful and accepted by the general public. People already connect with dogs and cats and by campaigning to stop the killing of companion animals it’ll only be time before they realize that all animals and should not be killed for our purposes.

Many of my animal rights beliefs were shaped through information I received from PETA. I had thought about becoming a vegetarian and information from PETA motivated me to do so and to stop wearing leather and wool and to be concerned about what charities are doing with my donations in the name of science the list goes on. Therefore I was very disappointed to learn that PETA is championing killing dogs and cats and condemning all nokill shelters the very people I would have expected them to be supporting. Now that I know this position I can no longer make financial contributions because I don’t want my money to be used to kill adoptable animals. Killing healthy animals and ones that can be treated reinforces the idea that many ignorant people have that animals are disposable. This is suggesting that if someone no longer has time for a dog bring them to a shelter and they’ll have them killed free of charge no problem. The animal doesn’t deserve us trying to do everything to get him a new home. I’m sure everyone here agrees that anyone who abuses animals whether at a nokill rescue or shelter or a kill shelter or anyone from the general public deserves to be punished. However I am astonished that irresponsible generalizations would be made that nokill shelters are all guilty of animal abuse. What is happening with the animal rights movement? PETA and other animal rights groups are all about changing the status quo in how animals are treated. Why aren’t we focusing more on decreasing the number of animals killed at shelters so we will get to the point where euthanasia is reserved for animals who are suffering from illness and cannot be helped with vet care? Many animal rights issues are not embraced by the public and while people may not be up in arms about the treatment of lab rats people love their dogs and cats like members of the family and this is one issue the public could be rallied to support with both their time and money. If someone will leave millions to their dog we should be working to have them donate money to set up spayneuter clinics all across the country and improve the antiquated shelters and shelter practices across the country. This blog criticizes nokill shelters which generally are private and aside from the hoarding situations cited most are in good condition but no one can deny that many kill shelters can also use improvements. I don’t understand why this issue isn’t receiving more attention. People’s resolutions for 2008 should be to foster a dog or cat from a local shelter help publicize homeless animals at shelters by posting flyers in your workplace etc and get feral cats spayed and neutered. I also didn’t know until just recently that PETA doesn’t support TNR. Feral cats are wild so why should they be killed? We don’t round up wild rabbits and kill them even though some rabbits are domesticated and live in homes. These absurd antinokill generalizations are counterproductive. I’m sure everyone here would love for all animals to find loving homes and I wish that we could make that a goal. That’s one campaign that I believe would be very successful and accepted by the general public. People already connect with dogs and cats and by campaigning to stop the killing of companion animals it’ll only be time before they realize that all animals and should not be killed for our purposes.

I am glad those people are getting what they deserve that’s not a “nokill” shelter it’s a group of people hoarding abused animals. I don’t think there is a real “nokill” shelter however I do believe there are many commited citizens who know what they are doing is right and are helping abused animals.

anonymous your post shows one thing quite clearly. You know nothing about what Nathan Winograd is up to. Or who he is involved with. But that seems to be a common trait of those that let themselves get manipulated by the No Kill con.

There is no such thing as a nokill shelter. Those shelters that claim to be nokill do so only because they pick and chose which animals they want. They turn animals away every dayif these animals are lucky they end up in an open admissions shelter. No kill shelters force open admissions shleters to do their dirty work while misleading the public and taking needed donations and potential volunteers from the open admissions shelters. I always adopt from open admission shelters.

Kelly I never said that my current negative perception of PETA came from CCF. I despise the organization and they have their own hypocrisies and shady campaigns. I dont care what the opposers of the Animal Rights Movement have to say about PETA even though they do sometimes bring up valid points because its obvious they are just hungry for any excuse to discredit and criticize the entire movement in itself. I care more about what other animal rights activists have to say about PETA because I know that their motive is out of real concern for the animals not fraternization with corporate businesses. Ive noticed by myself and with the help of other supporters of animal rights that PETA is turning into an animal welfare organization comparable to HSUS. Both organizations compromise with animal exploiting industries in hopes of receiving a crumb from the ethical table both collect thousands of dollars annually in donations that are mostly spent on campaigns instead of direct action for animals and both dont operate their own animal shelters. Lifesaving animal rights organizations include Best Friends Farm Sanctuary Mercy For Animals and the No Kill Advocacy Center which use their donations and their time effectively to directly SAVE the lives of animals. httpbestfriends.org httpfarmsanctuary.com httpwww.mercyforanimals.org httpwww.nokilladvocacycenter.org

Kelly the fact that you’re always harping on Nathan Winograd makes me think that you don’t know as much about the animal welfarerights movement as you think you do. Winograd isn’t the only one pushing for nokill solutions. There’s a lot of literature out there about this issue and I would recommend that you take a look organizations such as North Shore Animal League. I think this is typical of PETA supporters. You hear about the group on MTV or some pop media source and jump on the bandwagon without having any clue about the intellectual history and the current debates of the movement. As for the information that you’re disseminating about Winograd how about you tell us what your sources are on that. Oh and another thing Chelsea isn’t spouting anything from the CCF although there are definitely some overlaps. She’s saying what a lot of uswho are actually involved in the movement and doing rescue are saying about your beloved organization.

I think it’s very clear from the confusion here that we all need a new name for different types of shelters. PETA and others did a nice job of renaming “pets” as “companions”. Many people now refer to cats and dogs as companion animals. Maybe in the next few years we can do the same with shelters. When I worked at our large inner city shelter that did euthanize many animals we were called “open admission”. The nokill shelter where I worked at a few years later was called “nokill”. I found this an odd term. Maybe they should be called “limited admission” shelters. I’ve heard that term used before. It’s worth noting that no shelter is purely nokill. A dog or cat which attacks a shelter worker and shows out of control aggression is usually euthanized fatally ill animlas are usually euthanized as well at no kill shelters. Also openadmission “kill” shelters often do everything possible to save every animal they can. If the public realized that most “kill” shelters took in tens of thousands of animals per year versus “no kills” which often take in fewer than one thousand a year they might realize the problem. There are many problem with the nokill concept but every RESPONSIBLE shelter deserves support. Look at the thousands of breeders. We should focus on them. Again of course we need to shut down abusive shelters like Noah’s Ark. But PETA took it too far by suggesting that all or even most nokills are like this. Again new term? Maybe more interesting than “open admission” versus “limited admission”? I’ll have to think about that one.

Chelsea it is bad enough that your antiPeta rants come from this animalabuse lobbyist httpwww.consumerdeception.com But Nathan Winograd Mr No Kill adcocacy center is a hypocrite of the worst sort! Nathan Winograd DOES kill animals. His shelters turned animals away that got dumped on the street or died elsewhere. And his shelters DO euthanize. Period. And the Ithaca shelter that he claims was a success is overcrowded running out of money and TURNS ANIMALS AWAY! His no kill model is a miserable failure and shelters that followed it got hit with overcrowding waves of disease and worse. But he attacks and blames OTHER humane groups without admitting to his own failures. It’s like a cult. Worse the CCF mentioned in the link above was promoting Nathan and issuing press releases for him. The proabuse animal industries like dog breeders support Nathan because Nathan Winograd caters to them and is against rules and laws that would affect their incomes. All those puppy millers know a pal when they see one! No Kill DOES Kill and in horrible ways and blames others for their own failures. It’s a con.

Kelly writes No kill shelters are NOT open admission. They TURN ANIMALS AWAY and those animals end up being euthanized at another shelter or worse dumped on the street to a horrible death. Well said Kelly. Thanks!

Chelsea D I am right there with you. I’ve been thinking about PETA’s bizarre stances on nokill and TNR for quite some time now and I am still baffled as to why they make arguments such as this. I’ve come to a few conclusions. 1 PETA members are fascinated with death and what they argue is the ‘compassionate’ choice is actually the easy way out. There’s also a weird need for control by PETA supporters. If an animal doesn’t live a life that meets all of PETA’s standards ie no crate training then that animal is being abused. 2 A lot of people who support PETA have no idea the PETA does indeed kill animals that they do not support proven techniques like TNR and that the whole push for veganism by PETA is a relatively recent development.In fact they’re Johnny Come Lately’s in the realization that eating animals is as bad as abusing animals. 3 Peta possibly feels guilty because they rest on their laurels and chase after D list celebrities while other groups are actually in the trenches saving animals and finding solutions for the overpopulation issue. 4 But ultimately I think these policies are the result of PETA’s fear that they are going to lose a significant amount of donations to groups such as Best Friends in Utah and other nokill shelters. Frankly I don’t think its an accident that PETA started harping on their antino kill campaign after all of the press that nokill groups got after Hurricane Katrina. I do find it ironic that PETA supporters continue to use the term ‘humanely euthanize’ when its really healthy animals that are being murdered because they’re inconvenient. So its no okay for us kill animals for food clothing or entertainment but it is okay to kill them when they don’t fit in with our lifestyle. I’m certainly not arguing that there aren’t bad nokill shelters out there anymore than I would say all kill shelters are bad. Those of us who do work for nokill groups are all too aware of the warning signs 1 are there more animals than can be cared for 2do animals look clean have free roaming areas and do they exhibit stereotypic behavior that would indicate stress 3do the animals get immediate vet care and regular vet care 4 does the organization spayneuter all animals upon intake and do they have an active adoption program 5 We do visits and check out the facility. We contact our colleagues to get their opinion of the group. There also seems to be a alarming lack of knowledge about the psychological makeup of hoarders on these blogs. Hoarders don’t have ‘too many animals’. They have a compulsion to collect animals like scraps of paper or junk.Many of the so called ‘hoarding’ situations in nokills are really about people who got in over their heads. So instead of PETA saying ‘hey how can we find away for this not to happen again. How can we find some common ground between kill and no kill’ PETA makes these wild generalizations that are simply not supported by the evidence. The worst part about all of this is that PETA is wasting precious time that could instead be used to save animals by creating divisions within the movement. The worst part is the growing evidence from a recent expose that many of the kill shelters are killing even when they have space. So while PETA says ‘there’s no other choice’ they’re essentially giving a free pass to lazy people who don’t want to take time to clean kennels properly socialize dogs and work on improving adoption outreach. Not all shelters are like this. I actually have unending respect for my colleagues in local animal shelters but they realize that respecting life isn’t always easy and doesn’t always have convenient solutions such as killing.

Some are so busy defending certain reputable and few nokill shelters that it seems that they are not willing to focus on what just happened here at Noah’s Ark Animal Rescue. Yes I agree as with ANYTHING in life there are exceptions to ANYTHING. And certainly there are exceptions to these run down nokill shelters. Because two people at Noah’s Ark rightfully went to jail on animal cruelty charges we seem to have forgotten the poor animals that were suffering here all because we’re worried that a couple of good nokill shelters may now get a bad reputation. If you know of great nokill shelters good then you need not worry about them. The focus here is the hideous nokill shelters.

Ana bless you! I agree and I say people should visit the no kills before they make a judgement. And thank goodness there is someone else who shares my optimism that ferals can be given a second chance. We should begin an organization!! Blessings!! KELLY Hi I’m sorry if I did not make myself clear. What I meant to say is that I used to work for a “Kill” shelter and that it was openadmission meaning that we did euthanize animals but we did not turn anyone away. When I spoke about the NO kill shelter where I worked it was obviously not open admission but if someone came in with a stray or otherwise would refuse to keep it another day the nokill shelter would take the animal in right away. Obviously this is not the case in all nokills and yes I have seen some really poorly run nokiils that I wish would be shut down if they neglect the animals. All I’m saying is we should not stereotype every nokill on the planet we should vistit them first then make a judgement and improvement is always a good thing. Peace!

Dr. Cochran Absolutely it’s a mental illness. It’s still being studied but it’s believed to be a form of OCD. There is a clear difference between this and meanspirited animal abuse. Animal abusers often take decent care of themselves while neglecting animals whereas hoarders are often in the same wretched condition that their animals are in. We had a cruelty case at the MSPCA where the hoarders were found passed out in their own homes due to the fumes of you know what piled up in their homes. It’s worth noting that these hoarders are taking in strays that are right in their neighborhood and wind up right at their doorstep. Many are not activelly looking for new pets but they feel obligated to take in strays. Callous people often drop off unwanted pets on their doorstep. If you watch Animal Precinct on Animal Planet you will see that many hoarders are desperately poor and are often relieved when the authorities take the pets away as long as they promise to find them good homes.

hey jack happy new year. how come you never print the fact that peta employees were trialed and some how not convicted for illegally killing homeless pets given to them by shelters to find good homes for…. how come this never gets mentioned in the peta archives or are we just going to keep making believe that it never happened?????

While these nokill animal shelter workers without a doubt deserve jail time I don’t see how it is fair for other nokill shelters to be given the same criticism and bad reputation. Nokill animal shelters can and have been proven to be successful. Yes there are some untruthful nokill shelters that turn animals away and secretively kill healthy animals but there are some good ones out there as well. To be honest I have in the past year found myself to be more disappointed with PETA an organization I used to support with pride. After PETA’s continuous bashing of the concept of NOT killing homeless pets their own high kill rate of homeless pets without even running their own official shelter and their collection of donations without specifying what the money is really spent on I dont feel comfortable with supporting such an organization. I never thought I would see an animal rights organization being so supportive of killing animals. httpwww.Nokilladvocacycenter.org

I’m against putting animals down. but from what i have read. there has to be a way to stop all this breeding. there are so many animals that new homes. why let people keep breeding to get money. then they in up in shelters or auctions. where they don’t get the care they should.i have seen show dogs that have been on petfinder.com that have been show dogs. or have been used for breeding. we need to get control and start putting these people in prison. it will never stop. unless we start making examples of people.my god a animal gives they love unconditional. people sure don’t.

Dear God How I know that smell.I love animals more than most people. I had a relative growing up with way too many cats and dogs. It was terrible. It is sad but we can’t cure all pets and find them homes!!!!I wish we could. And in heaven I believe we can.

I like peta for what they do that actually helps animals like trying to stop animal testing stopping the use of fur and promoting vegetarianism and veganism but it seems as though peta’s solution is to just put all pets to sleep…NO that is not a solution and there ARE no kill shelters that do take care of their animals. SOME animals are better off put to sleep because they are suffering in pain…but not all animals need to be put to sleep. The people from this shelter who got jail time are a few bad people who got what they deserve and I’m glad to see people actuall get jail time for abusing animas but you need to stop generalizing nokill shelters. Stop trying to down people who want to save animals rather than throw them away.

Unfortunately there IS no perfect situation for homeless animals. There isn’t even a satisfactory solution most of the time not enough money not enough personnel not enough space or food to take care of the thousands of animals that have nowhere to go. The damned breeders HAVE to stop pumping out puppies and people who live with companion animals HAVE to spay and neuter. Otherwise this miserable situation will not only be perpetuated but will increase. The shelters usually do their best but their best still isn’t a good life for a dog or a cat. We have adapted these animals so that they just about have to live with us in order to have a decent life. We have made them dependent on us on our good will and our largesse so it is our obligation to care for them all and care for them well. How? How do we do that now that overbreeding has created such a glut of animals in need of homes? On my street alone there are as many animals as people. Most of the people take good care of their animals but there’s one who leaves his dog out all night and the poor dog barks to get in until the neighbors complain. Another adopted a grayhound and then gave him back because he wasn’t “happy in the house.” A sizeable number of dogs in shelters are dogs who are there because “the owners moved.” And why one wonders would you take a dog into your life if you won’t take him or her with you when you move? Would you leave other family members behind if it was inconvenient to move with them? There’s so much irresponsibility when it comes to animals. The solution isn’t nokill shelters or highkill shelters or shelters period. The solution is to limit the number of dogs and cats and adopt the ones who find themselves stuck in shelters to begin with. And rather than “shelters” homeless animals should be cared for in sanctuaries where they can have freedom and shelter and attention. So much for “shoulds.” The reality for many MANY animals in this country and elsewhere is the street the garbage dumpster and the shelters. This is not only a fact it’s an indictment of our species that we treat other species so horribly.

Maya your comments make me very upset. I work with several no kill shelters. No kill shelters are NOT open admission. They TURN ANIMALS AWAY and those animals end up being euthanized at another shelter or worse dumped on the street to a horrible death. The only place this works is in parts of the country where altering rates are high and laws are strong and there aren’t many areas like that. Granted if you are in Massachusetts that is not so much a problem thanks to high rates of spay neuter strong animal control laws breeder licensing dog limit laws etc. But most of the rest of the country has no such laws and no kill shelters TURN ANIMALS AWAY or quickly turn into horrifying animal warehouses. No kill is a con.

There are many many of these “no kill” sanctuaries that are being exposed now. In some of them pets are starving to death dying of disease killing each other in fights. These situations are as bad as puppy mills. There is no excuse. Yet until authorities step in these people do not stop torturing these animals. The “no kill” mentality has become a deranged illness. Some of these people are literally letting animals suffer and die in front of them while they attack other groups and shelters for humanely euthanizing. It is sheer insanity! Please if any of you hear of no kill sanctuaries near you VISIT THEM. Inspect them. See what’s going on not just in front but in the back rooms. There are animals imprisoned in these “sanctuaries” that are suffering just like the dogs in the puppy mills. And there are some really bad ones especially in some of the southern states esp rural areas. Please find out what is going on! And instead of starting “sanctuaries” that quickly get into trouble I hope that people focus instead on starting low cost spay neuter clinics and mobile altering programs that get to rural and poor areas.

Why is it that the people animal shelters hire to look after animals are NEVER animal lovers? P.S. As i write this i have a little black poodle lying under my computer desk. Her name’s Lulu and we bought her free from someone who was ready to have her put down at a shelter. That is what we should do before considering buying dogs at shelters look up ‘free givaways’ in the paper and save those dogs before they get sent off to an abusive shelter. We just can’t trust them any more.

I volunteered at a no kill shelter for three years in Ojai California. I had to quit due to the incompentence of the kennel managers and lack of training of some of the workers. A dog with a known hernia was left for weeks with this pain until the surgery was done new dogs with collars that were way too tight for their neck were left on them older dogs that were in my opinion emaciated that were given dry food with some water on it in lieu of a quality food for elder dogs. I could go on and on. No one wants to say anything. I saw way too many dogs and cats in extreme stress all in the name of a “No Kill Shelter ” If a shelter cannot give the animals a decent life and causes them so much stress and anxiety what is the point? This is a taboo subject here because everyone wants to think the humane society not the national one here is perfect. Well it is not.

Maya You mentioned hoarders. There used to be a lady in our area that was quite eccentric and lived out away from town. She made national news once when she had literally hundreds of dogs in squalid cages. She wasn’t selling puppies to labs or people she was literally hoarding these dogs in some sort of animal love gone bad. She was banned from owning dogs after she was released from the state mental hospital. She subsequently moved to another state and repeated the offense on an even grander scale.. I am not familiar with the psychiatry related to this phenomenon but the fact that you easily mention it makes me think it is more common than I thought. I would love to hear what you think.

Thanks Maya for the voice of reason!!!! The nokill shelters that I support have none of the cats and dogs living in cages so that’s another generalization that is both innaccurate and deceiving. Some are in cages because of illness surgeries and other medical needs. But this is only temporary. These responsible nokill shelters limit the amount of cats that can live in their homelike shelters because it would impact negatively on the cats or dogs in their care. PETA’s stance against these shelters is what is at the core of this point of view this a pov I do not agree with. I also don’t agree with PETA’s pov concerning “feral” cats and TNR. And btw cats dogs rabbits in shelters are not put to sleep they are KILLED!!! It is not even euthanasia because many are very healthy and loving and some are sweet babies kittens puppies.

I am all for protecting animals and I was against putting animals to sleep until I visited one in Upsate New York then I changed my mind I think that sometimes it is more humane to put animals to sleep. The animals I saw were in horrible conditions they were scared and angry and most were insane from being in a cage 24 hours a day what I saw will stay with me forever.

This was not a nokill shelter. This was a couple of hoarders neglecting animals. There are thousands of private and public nokill shelters that take exceptionally good care of their animals many of whom enjoy a life of being walked outdoors dogs living in large playrooms cats and sleeping in clean and healthy conditions with lots of human contact. When I worked at the MSPCA we recieved 11500 animals each year. Would you like to have our numbers pumped up to 15000? If the nokill shelters in our area had been shut down by PETA that’s what would have happened. I visited all these nokill shelters and while they were not perfect the animals were vaccinated exercised playful healthy and lived in very very clean contitions with lots of human contacts. Please for the love of God stop the wild generalizations!!!!!!!

Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights? Read more.